need to write?

I never minded writing.  School papers, journaling, letters to friends.  I never thought about whether I was any good at it until grad school when I got some good feedback about my writing style from professors I respect.  Still, it wasn't something I pursued--mostly because I didn't think I'd have the discipline to sit down and spend the time to write.  It sounded lonely.  I'm an extrovert-and-then-some.  I could never sit alone and write.

Then I discovered the blog world.  The blog world allows me to write and interact with others at the same time.  Perfect!  So I type out my babble and hit publish.  I do it again.  Some posts just stink.  Some I feel maybe-kinda-good about.  I write about life, and faith, and family.  I take little time to tweak and perfect--I just spew my thoughts through my fingers instead of my mouth.

And, what do you know?  I really like to write.  I might love it.  I think I might even be starting to need it.  Throughout today, my thoughts were many and spinning and jumbled.  I noticed in the midst of mind-spin a yearn to write.  To let the words bring clarity to my thoughts.  To process externally, as I say.  It started small, hardly recognizable.  As I gave the yearning some attention, I found myself looking for an opportunity to sit and let words flow onto the screen.

Finally, after a day of meetings and kid-stuff and grocery shopping, I get my chance to sit.  And I write.  About writing.  Funny.

And while I'm a long way from calling myself a writer, I am acquainting myself with the side of me that likes to put words to paper and screen.  And the way I feel doing it.  It's good.  It's an everyday gift worth celebrating--so I join once again with emily at chatting at the sky and unwrap along with the other gift-noticers there.

And to the real writers out there:  thanks for letting me be a part of your super cool world.  I want to be you when I grow up.